Many jurisdictions require large vehicles such as trucks and semi-tractor/trailers to have mud flaps, which are sheets of flexible material mounted on the vehicle to hang down a short distance behind at least one of the vehicle's wheels. Typically, the mud flap is secured to a mounting bracket, which is secured to the vehicle chassis. Failure and detachment of the mud flap can occur, however, when the vehicle is being backed up and the mud flap becomes pinched between one of the tires and a curb or other obstruction. The sudden jerk often tears a portion or all of the mud flap from its mounting bracket or bends or completely ruins the mounting bracket.
A number of mud flap mounting arrangements and mounting hardware designs are shown in the following U.S. and foreign patents:
Patent No.Inventor2,683,612Bacino2,714,015Sherman2,809,848Carswell2,826,428Lincoln2,865,655Boysen2,935,336Case3,052,508Federspiel3,095,215Black3,158,386Tillinghast3,219,363Dalsey3,248,126Sexton et al.3,258,887Mostoller3,285,624Aber3,333,868Sogoian3,700,260Moore et al.3,711,119Hollingsworth3,726,544Miller3,778,086Moore3,822,897Heath3,940,165Sogoian4,180,230Sogoian4,856,816Francis4,044,667Manning5,460,412Vincent5,486,079Martin5,915,708Silva5,967,553Cominsky6,116,628AdrianBE493696GR604068IT321968
What is needed is an improved mud flap system.